Method of making shoes



'May 22;, 1925. 1,539,507

A. H. PRENZEL METHOD OF MAKING sgons Filed Oct; 16, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet.1

WITNESSES 9 5 I INVENTOR .7 a 4/7fif5/VZEL) A TTORNE YS May 26, 1925.1,539,507

- A. H. PRENZEL METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed 001:. 16, 1923 2Sheets-Sheet '2 ATTORNEYS Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES ADAM I-I. PRENZEL, OF HALIFAX, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Application filed October 16, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM I-I. PRENZEL, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Halifax, in the county of Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of Making Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in methods of making shoes and itconsists of the steps herein described and claimed.

An object of the invention is to carry out a method of making shoeswhereby the upper structure is lasted in upon a slip sole around theheel seat, the remainder of the upper structure being sewn to the solethrough a channel which extends therearound and terminates at the heelseat.

A further object of the invention is to carry out a method of makingshoes wherein use is made of a molded insole, an upstanding flange whichis thus formed in the process of molding extending around the sole fromthe heel seat and having situated at the base a channel which is cut inthe sole portion toward the flange.

A further object of the invention is to produce an insole of thecharacter described through the channel of which both the entire upperstructure and a welt strip are sewn to the sole, the inner portion ofthe inseam or stitches being completely concealed not only forprotection but also to present a perfectly smooth surface on the insideof the shoe.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of a completed shoe made in accordance with the methoddisclosed below.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the stamped insole.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of the in sole after molding andchanneling.

Figure 4 is a section on the line l 1 of Figure 3, again illustratingthe molded upstanding flange and channel of the insole.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing how the upper structure is lastedin around the heel seat and how the rest of the upper structure istemporarily fastened to the upstanding flange.

Figure (5 is a perspective view showing how the welt strip, upperstructure and sole Serial No. 668,877.

flange are sewn together through the channel beneath the flange.

Figure 7 is a detailed section on the line 7-7 of Figure (3, clearlyillust'ating the structure.

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing how the surplus material istrimmed olf above the inseam that holds the welt, upper structure andflange together.

Figure 9 is a detail sectional View illustrating the appearance of theshoe after the trimming operation in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a detail sectional view on the line 101O of Figure 1showing how the outseam holds the welt against the outsole, and how theinseam is completely concealed.

The invention herein disclosed embodies the principles of my Patent#1,031,196 granted July 2, 1912 and my application Serial #324,149 filedSeptember 16, 1919 so far as the idea of channeling is concerned. Itwill become apparent, however, by reading the following description,that a shoe made in accordance with the improved method constitutes astructure quite different from either of the foregoing disclosures, andalso makes quite a different application of the channeling. In each ofthe foregoing instances, the channeling is done on a single sole whichconstitutes both an' inner and outer sole. According to the improvedmethod, the channeling is done on an insole or second sole and theoutsole is not affected.

In each of the foregoing instances the upper structure is sewn in placethrough the lip of the channel, and the inseam is dis.- cernable on theinside of the shoe. According to the improved method the inseam isstitched through the base of the channel but is not discernable on theinside of the shoe. The first step of the method consists of stamping asole 1 out of leather or such other material as is intended to be usedas an insole.

It is to be observed that the insole is reduced at the heel seat 2, thisbeing by virtue of the fact that the flange 3 is cut short at dwhere theheel seat begins. The periplwral portion of the heel H is removedbeginning at the cuts l, thereby resulting in what is herein known as areduction. The second step of the method consists of moistening andmolding the insole. The

step of molding produces the upstanding This flange is the flange shownin Fig. 3.

' to the insole at the molding, where it originally was flat. The thirdstep of the method consists of channeling the insole at 5, therebyproducing a lip 6 which later sub stantially covers the channel and thusconcoals the inseam. The channel 5 is practically coextensive with theupstanding flange 3. It makes no difference that the channel extends alittle beyond the shoulder 4. It is merely a matter of convenience tolet the channel extend a little beyond the shoulders thereby making sureof an ample channel to the full extent of the upstanding flange for allof the necessary stitching to hold the upper structure to the sole mayoccur at the base of and beneath the upstanding flange.

The fourth step of the method may be regarded as consisting of thecollective acts of drawing the upper structure over a last and theinsole 1, lasting in the upper structure at 7 around the heel seat 2 andtourporarily fastening the remainder of the upper structure at 8 to theupstanding flange 3. The upper structure is composed of the upperleather 9 and canvas lining 10. The upper structure is cutat 11 (Fig. 5)so that the portion thereof around the heel seat may be tacked down asshown, or in other words lasted in. The insole is also temporarilyfastened to the last by means of one or two tacks 12. The temporaryfastening meansl 81 may consist of metal staples, several stitches ofthreads, etc. It is important to observe that the temporary fasteningmeans are applied well toward the edge of the flange 3 so as not tointerfere with the inseam which is presently applied.

This inseam secures the insole, upper structure and a welt 13 (Fig. 6)permanently. The inseam 14 is app-lied in the channel 5, beneath the lip6 and under the upstanding flange 3. This is well shown in Figures 6 and7, and the act of applying the inseam 14 constitutes the fifth step ofthe method. The inseam 14 is substantially coextensive with theupstanding flange 3 and the channel 5.inasmuch as it begins and ends atthe places 11 where the upper structure is lasted over theheel seat.Again, it is important to observe that the inseam 14 secures the welt 13well toward one edge so that the major portion of the welt remains free.

The sixth step of the method consists of trimming off those portions ofthe upper structure 9, flange 8 and welt. 13 above the inseam 14. Figure8 illustrates how close the line of cutting comes to the inseam.Although the line of cutting comes very close, nevertheless it does not.enter the stitches of the inseam. The lip 6 of the channel 5 is shown asstanding up in Figures 6 and 7. However, it so happens in manufacturingthe shoe that the lip 6 lays down well upon the channel and thusconceals the inseam (that is to say the inner portion) so that it mightappear that there is no stitching or inseam at all. Figure 9 illustratesthe appearance of the shoe after the completion of the sixth step of themethod. Here the last has been turned over so that it occupies aposition reverse to that in Figure 8, in other words, the insole 1 isdown in Figure 9 whereas in Figure 8 it is up.

The seventh step of the method consists of applying an outsole 15 andstitching it. in place by means of an outseam 16 around the welt 13.Figure 10 well illustrates the function of the lip 6 in protectingthefi'n ner portion of the inseam 14. Were the -construction such thatthe inner portion of the inseam touched the outsole 15, the occurrencoof any rubbing between the in and outsoles might result in the weakeningof the inseam. This is totally prevented by' the concealment andprotection of the inseam by the lip 6. In stitching the welt strip 13down on the outsole 15 that portion of the welt that was formerly nextto the aperture 9 is bent out over the inseam 14 and subsequentlyconstitutes the exposed portion of the welt.

In bending the welt strip over as well shown in Figure 10, additionalconcealment of the inseam 14 occurs. There is little likelihood ofmoisture getting in between the welt strip 13 and the outsole 15 todamage the inseam 14. The upper structure and insole are thereforefirmly held together, and

there is likewise little likelihood of water leaking into the shoethrough the joint between the upper structure and sole. It is importantto observe that the inseam 14 does not pass through the insole l at thecrease where the last 3 is bent into an upstanding position. The channel5, being on the inside of the sole and somewhat away from the upstandingflange 3, permits the introduction of the inseam 14 well inward of thebase of the flange and more nearly through the flat part of the soleitself. Creasing the sole in forming the upstanding flange weakens thefiber to some extent. lVere the line of stitching 14 permitted to passthrough the down and out into the position shown in Figure 10, by theapplication of the outseam 16. The reader can readily imagine the welt13 being pulled down from the position in Figure 9 to that in Figure 10.The cut off or edge portions will move inwardly in respect to the shoeand so make room or provide sufficient relaxation of the leather topermit the lip 6 to close down completely. If desirable, the in andoutsoles may be cemented together. It should have been stated inconnection with the description of the step of the method illustrated inFigure 8, that in cutting off the unnecessary material above th inseam lt the temporary fastening means 8 are also removed. The strip that istrimmed off as shown in Figure 8 constitutes Waste and is thrown away.

I claim:

1. The method of making a shoe which comprises the steps of cutting aninsole blank to produce a peripheral flange around the sole exceptingthe heel seat, molding the.

insole so that the flange assumes an upstanding position, channellingthe insole substantially coextensive with the upstanding flange,applying an upper structure to the insole, temporarily fastening oneportion thereof to the flange and lasting another portion thereof overthe insole at the heel seat; running an inseam through the channel andupper structure beneath the flange and simultaneously applying a weltstrip outside of the upper structure, trimming off the surplus materialabove the inseam including the temporary fastening means, straighteningthe welt strip, and attaching an outsole to the welt strip by means ofan outseam.

2. The method of making shoes which comprises the steps of cutting aninsole to produce an outstanding flange around the entire sole exceptingthe heel seat, molding the insole to crease it on a line in continuationof the edge of th heel seat and produce an upstanding flange,channelling the insole substantially coextensively with the upstandingflange, applying an upper structure, temporarily fastening a portion ofsaid structure to the front of the flange and lasting the rear portionthereof over the heel seat in back of the flange and said channel,applying a welt strip outside of the shoe sub stantially coextensivewith the flange, running an inseam through the channel beneath thecrease through the upper structure and said welt strip to permanentlysecure all together, trimming ofl' the surplus material above the inseamincluding said temporary fastening means, applying an outsole andfastening said outsole to the welt strip by means of an outseam.

3. The method of making shoes which comprises the steps of cutting aninsole to produce an outstanding flange around the entire sole exceptingthe heel seat, molding the insole to crease it in continuation of theheel seat and cause the flange to assume an upstanding position,channeling the insole inside of the flange substantially coextensivewith said channel leaving a lip, applying an upper structure, saidstructure being cut adjacent the ends of said flange, lasting said upperstructure over the heel seat at one side of the cut portion, temporarilyfastening the remaining portion of the upper structure to the upstandingflange, applying a welt strip outside of the shoe below the edge of theflange and upper structure, running an inseam along the channel beneaththe lip and crease through the upper structure, and upper portion of thewelt strip, trimming off the edges of the flange, upper structure andwelt strip above the inseam, straightening out the welt strip so thatthe lip tends to close the channel and conceal the inner portion of theinseam, applying an outsole and securing said outsole to the welt stripby an outseam.

ADAM H. PRENZEL.

